Ingrid Mattson – Muslim Traditions on Healing
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AI: Transcript ©
Serene, once again, has done just such a
beautiful job of
framing the issues
and bringing us into
a a very personal space
where trauma
and healing
potentially can occur.
In a in a briefer time, I just
want
to
talk a little bit about
the issues I've struggled with, thinking
about
healing with respect to the 911 tragedy. Because
in the end, this is why we're here.
We're not talking about healing in general,
but healing about the 911 tragedy.
And,
so many of the examples of healing
that I can think of,
that I draw upon
as resources from the Islamic tradition,
involve
situations where the perpetrator
of the harm or the violence is known,
And the victims of the injustice have some
opportunity
to
either take revenge,
to get justice, to teach a lesson,
or to reconcile
with the perpetrators.
Now, most
of the people who were involved in the
of course, Osama Bin Laden was still at
large, and
we kept looking for him until he was
killed, and
maybe we can talk a little bit more
about what that meant to us.
But let's think about about what it
means first when
the perpetrators are still,
present.
When we speak about a major
societal
trauma, as 911 was.
And when I think
about the example that I gave in the
readings
of the prophet Muhammad and the early Muslim
community
able to return to to Mecca, where those
who had oppressed
them, and tormented them, and exiled them from
the city,
and continue to harass them, and wage war
on them.
What
was
that
reconciliation
that eventually
it was made possible by, first of all,
to resist
further oppression were
were within a certain boundary
that did not make it impossible
to later reconcile.
And we spoke about this,
the other week,
when I mentioned the prohibition on mutilation
of the bodies of the enemy.
That part of that
prohibition
made it possible
to
to both for the Muslims themselves and their
opponents
recognize a mutual human humanity
and dignity in the bodies,
even in the midst of warfare.
And I think without that, there there may
be some doors for reconciliation
that would have been closed because the trauma,
the further trauma of that may have been
too intense.
And then there was this
hope,
a persistent
hope that
reconciliation
would be possible, even in the most difficult
enemies will one day be beloved to you.
So this act of an imagination, which seems
an impossibility
in the moment,
that
these enemies
may be
in the some future
your beloved brothers.
It's almost like a vision statement.
You know, and then how do you work
towards that?
So what I'm saying is that healing
is a process that needs to begin even
in the midst of
mourning.
We have to set up the possibility for
healing
even in the way that we mourn and
even in the way that we seek justice.
I think about the Quran story of Joseph.
For those of you who haven't read the
Quran,
the story of Joseph as narrated in the
Quran is really one of the most beautiful
parts of the Quran.
About Joseph being betrayed by his brothers,
Being discarded by them, being picked up and
and sold,
carried to a foreign land,
adopted by those foreigners who gave him a
completely new identity.
Then in that new home being falsely accused
of trying to seduce the woman of the
house,
being imprisoned,
but
but then leaving jail because of his ability
to interpret dreams.
He saves the people of Egypt from famine,
They're speaking to
him face to face and they do not
know that this is a new life. He
saves the people of Egypt from famine and
in his new life. And in his new
They're speaking to him face to face, and
they do not know that this is their
brother.
He tricks his brothers
into thinking that the younger brother has done
has stolen something,
and now they must leave the younger brother
in his custody.
Eventually, they have a realization.
By repeating the action
to the younger brother that mirrored the the
action of injustice that they did to Joseph,
now
they come to realize what they had done,
and they in that realization
also now recognize Joseph.
They're forgiven by Joseph and there's a reconciliation.
Now, this is a very moving story
with a tidy ending. And again, it doesn't
fit
with this kind of massive trauma that we
have in 911.
And I think
part of the struggle that we've had
in the wake of 911
is
the struggle with understanding
who were the perpetrators of the violence.
Who were they?
We know
there were the terrorists themselves who died
in the plane.
We know about Osama bin Laden, who later
was caught,
but we felt that it was so massive
that there had to be something more. There
had to be something more, and
who How could we heal if we couldn't
find a partner
to,
you
know, apologize to us?
Or
that
can bring and feel a satisfaction
with serving justice
upon them.
It makes me understand, I think, a little
bit
this
persistent question that many in the American Muslim
community have gotten for the last decade.
Gotten for the last decade.
This constant question, why
do muslims
not speak out
against terrorism?
Why do we not hear Muslims talking
about
these horrors? And I used I thought
that it was only really a question of
communications.
You know, this is how I understood it.
I thought, you know, we remember
bad news more than good news. Even though
Muslims have been very vocal in denouncing
violence, terrorism in the name of Islam, it's
not being heard
in the same way that when you watch
the evening news, the bad stories stick with
you, and the good ones fade away. It
has to do something with
the way we under process information, especially
threats.
But I'm starting to think that
kind of beneath the question was almost a
desire for an apology
from us
for what happened. Because
when it was such a major societal
trauma,
there was a need and I think there
remains a need for a for
a kind of equal partner in that for
the oppressor,
the perpetrator of violence to somehow
reflect that
social structure,
that
breadth,
and in a way we were, and we
have been the kind of,
you know, proxy
maybe.
And I think that it's very difficult for
healing to continue
or to occur
on a societal level until we realize that,
and it's one of the reasons why I
personally
felt a lot of sympathy for those people
who expressed
not only relief
that Osama bin Laden was killed.
I understood that very well. I think many
of us did,
but also
a sense of joy and
a need to celebrate it.
I wasn't as critical as people who felt
that way, because
I felt
that
there ne there was
for a long time, you know, Serene talks
about this trauma kind of circulating. I felt
that there wasn't a place for it to
go,
and now, finally,
in this
larger than life character,
there was a place to put that.
And I even felt
that somehow
a relief
of the pressure from my community
to now be
in the position
of,
even unconsciously,
you know, apologizing for what happened. We didn't
do it,
and now it was kind of understood. Because
here was
the person, very clearly,
no longer a myth,
who had done it.
But let me just say,
when we look at 911, what can I
learn from these
stories
that I've related
that might help us
in this area?
One of the things that I see in
the Joseph story
is that he became a new person.
I mean, he became such a different person.
You know, he was transported to a different
land. He had a new name, a new
identity, new relationships, to the point where his
own family couldn't
recognize him. Although, of course, he kept his
values, which is why he landed in in
prison in the first place, or in the
second place, let's
say. But what is it
about
trauma
and then healing
that
leads to a certain kind of growth that
in some cases may be distorted.
It may be
a misshapen
growth.
It may be a healing over or a
scar, but also the possibility
for something new.
I think
we are all transformed
by
trauma.
We're never going to regain our past selves,
ever.
We can't go back and be the people
we were before it happened.
And
you know, the people who died
are dead.
You know?
Now, from a theological perspective,
I don't believe it's pollyannish
to believe that they have a new life
with God. I believe that is
a dignification
of their life,
and
the ultimate,
you know, judgement of them that those who
died innocently
are not the same as those who died
committing evil.
They're not the same
in their
death. There's a value judgment there, and that's
why in my tradition you not only need
to believe in God,
but you need to believe
in
the final judgment.
That what we do affects
forever,
for eternity,
who we are.
If you die committing evil
and perpetuating evil, you are in a different
state than one who dies innocently
at the hands of an evil person.
But for those who remain,
that is can give some comfort, but it
doesn't heal the wounds.
It doesn't heal the gaping
space in your life.
But in this space,
what happens? I think this idea of life
continuing or moving on,
it's not so much moving on as this
new kind of growth.
We see
that in his suffering,
Joseph became a new person through service to
others,
who weren't his people.
The Egyptians were not his people.
They'd not He'd not particularly
benefited
that much from them,
but he saved them.
Can you imagine what 7 years of famine
would do,
especially to children?
Those who are developing physically and mentally.
7 years of malnutrition,
those who wouldn't die would be stunted in
their bodies and their minds.
His
willingness
and desire
to save
those people
meant that
there was a certain kind of trauma that
at least wouldn't continue
in that next generation.
I think of the 10 years that we've
spent
since 9,112,001,
and I think of the ways that we've
tried
we've tried to prevent trauma from being passed
on
to the young people, and in other ways
where maybe we haven't done such a good
job.
But if we're talking about societal healing,
how can we talk about society without looking
at the way in which we may be
passing down
our wounds
onto others? What would make this society look
different
than it does now, 30 years from now,
either better
or worse.
And,
you know, in the end,
unless we
unless we pay attention to that
and find a way
to become new people,
having recognizing
that we are different people
because of what has happened.
And we learn to fill that new space
and grow in ways
that will
impact the others in a positive way, then
I think,
I think,
it will be a greater tragedy.